I missed this movie during its original run in theaters, mainly because I just couldn't drum up any interest among the beer swilling group of buddies that I run with. Probably a good thing too. Because once I finally sat down to watch this at home, I have to admit that I found myself choking back the tears during a few scenes.

Rule of thumb number one when it comes to the beer swilling buddies: never let them see you cry.

I actually found myself a bit surprised at how much I liked this film though. I've never been big on musicals, and when it comes to the Beatles I can also be a bit of a purist. Besides, the whole Beatles music put to a song and dance thing was already tried once with Cirque de Soleil's production of the Love record, right?

Anyway prejudices going in aside, I am happy to report that not only did Across The Universe win me over, it also had me reaching for the Kleenex box more than a few times. Basically a Romeo and Juliet sort of tragic love fable set to Beatles music during the turbulence of the sixties, the film centers on the relationships which develop among a group of characters who come together in a sort of communal living arrangement at a New York City apartment house.

Chief among these are Jude, a British transplant who comes to America originally to seek out the father who abandoned him as a child, and Lucy, who seems to be your basic smalltown all-American sort of girl from a fine, upstanding Christian family. When Lucy's boyfriend dies in Vietnam, it opens up several questions about who she actually is, and a romance soon develops with Jude, who has already become fast friends with her more rebellious brother Max (played with great gusto by Joe Anderson).

Eventually, they all find themselves living together in a New York apartment/commune that is owned by a Janis Joplin-like singer named Sadie. At this point, a number of subplots begin to develop with peripheral characters like Sadie's lover, a Hendrix-like guitarist named Jo-Jo, and a confused waif-like character named Prudence.